Question of the Day

Did illegal voters swing any congressional races?

TUCSON — Africanized bees, the hybrids known as “killer bees,” made their presence known in the Tucson area last week.

The Arizona Daily Star reports a swarm of the bees stung at least six persons in the Foothills neighborhood Thursday. On the same day, pest-control workers began the task of removing a colony of bees from an elementary school.

The swarm in Foothills came from a hive taken over by the aggressive Africanized bees. The hive owner disturbed them as he harvested honey, and they swarmed through the neighborhood.

CALIFORNIA

Jaywalking chicken evades penalty

RIDGECREST — A chicken that got a ticket for crossing the road has clawed his way out of it.

The $54 citation for impeding traffic was dismissed Friday after Linc and Helena Moore’s attorney argued that the fowl was domesticated and could not be charged as livestock.

State law restricts livestock on highways, but not domestic animals.

The chicken was ticketed March 26 for impeding traffic after it wandered onto a road in Johannesburg, a rural mining community southeast of Ridgecrest.

COLORADO

Rape counselor faces arrest

DENVER — An arrest warrant has been issued for a rape counselor who refused to turn over records of her sessions with a former Air Force Academy cadet, one of the women whose accusations touched off a scandal that toppled the academy’s top leaders.

Jennifer Bier is fighting a subpoena in the court-martial of airman Joseph Harding, who is accused of sexually assaulting two women at the academy in 1999 and 2000. His attorneys say their client’s right to a fair trial overrides the reported victim’s right to privacy.

Miss Bier’s attorney, Wendy Murphy, said she planned to seek an emergency order tomorrow in federal court to prevent Miss Bier’s arrest.

FLORIDA

Skin sensor tests driver for booze

FORT LAUDERDALE — If the car doesn’t start, you are too drunk to drive.

That is the premise behind a $600 sensor that can be installed in a steering wheel or in gloves and will test a driver’s skin to determine alcohol consumption.

Inventor Dennis Bellehumeur, 54, says his device prevents a vehicle from starting or running if the driver is over the legal alcohol limit.

The device’s skin sensor makes it different from the “breath alcohol ignition interlock” that has been on the market for three decades. That device requires that a driver blow into an instrument that measures alcohol in the breath.

Mr. Bellehumeur, a real estate agent and deli owner in Wilton Manors, spent 12 years developing his sensor after his then-teenage son crashed into a utility pole while driving drunk and suffered minor brain damage.

HAWAII

Attorney general OKs sex-offender list

HONOLULU — Information on 204 sex offenders was returned to a state Web site after review by the attorney general’s office. Officials said they needed to review the seriousness and frequency of those cases and others.

Lawmakers intended to keep some lower-level sex offenders off the site to avoid associating them publicly with violent or habitual offenders.

ILLINOIS

Video-game bill moves forward

SPRINGFIELD — Lawmakers voted Saturday to ban the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors in Illinois, a move other states and cities have tried but federal courts repeatedly have struck down.

The measure now goes to Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, a Democrat who proposed the ban late last year after hearing about the video game “JFK Reloaded,” which puts the player in the role of President Kennedy’s assassin.

“In today’s world, parents face unprecedented challenges in monitoring and protecting their children from harmful influences. This bill will make their job easier,” Mr. Blagojevich said, praising the House’s 106-6 vote. The state Senate approved the bill earlier this month.

Under the legislation, clerks who knowingly sell adult video games to minors could be fined $1,000. They could defend themselves by showing they did not know the buyer was a minor or that they followed the industry ratings on the games.

MICHIGAN

Memorial honors soldier killed in Iraq

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP — A memorial honoring a soldier killed in Iraq was dedicated on what would have been Army Pfc. Damian Bushart’s 24th birthday.

The bronzed helmet and M-16 rifle atop a cement column dedicated Friday were part of the Lest They Be Forgotten project, which was started by a Florida man whose son was killed in Iraq in 2003. It aims to build memorials in every community that has lost a soldier.

“We weren’t going to sit around waiting for the government to build a memorial,” said Skip Bushart, Pfc. Bushart’s father. “They had to wait 25 years for the Vietnam memorial. They had to wait more than 50 years for the World War II memorial.”

Pfc. Bushart was killed on Nov. 22, 2003, in Baghdad. His family held car washes and bowl-a-thons to help raise money for the memorial.

NEW YORK

Mirrors not safe around woodpecker

SULLIVAN — Car owners around town are covering their mirrors in an attempt to outsmart a woodpecker who apparently thinks his reflection is an enemy.

Tim Taylor, who owns Thru-way Auto Glass, said he replaced 30 smashed mirrors last year and 18 this year because of the bird, which has claimed this area east of Syracuse as his territory.

“People come in pretty mad. One guy’s been in here three times already because he keeps forgetting to cover up the mirrors,” Mr. Taylor said.

Initial reports that two planes collided were inaccurate, said FAA spokesman John Clabes. He said the plane appeared to have lost power.

“One person was seriously hurt,” Mr. Clabes said yesterday afternoon.

A rescuer also was killed en route to the scene.

The plane was performing aerobatics at the Clarence E. Page Municipal Airport west of Oklahoma City, Mr. Clabes said.

RHODE ISLAND

TV leads to arrest of defendant

GLOCESTER — Word to the wise to bail violators: Stay away from television cameras.

State police said a man facing child pornography charges was seen in the audience of a boxing match on “The Contender,” in violation of conditions of his bail.

Paul Iannuzzi, 35, had not gotten permission to travel to Las Vegas, where the boxing match was held. A detective who worked on the case spotted him on TV; Mr. Iannuzzi also spoke to the Providence Journal about the match.

When officers went to arrest Mr. Iannuzzi on Friday, he reportedly tried to hit one and kicked a dent in a state police cruiser. He was being held pending his arraignment, which was set for tomorrow.